A hawk pins a starling at Campbell Avenue and Chestnut Expressway. Dean Curtis/News-Leader

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The broad daylight life and death struggle at the corner of Campbell Avenue and Chestnut Expressway went largely unnoticed.

Motorists, even passing police cars, sped by within feet of the scene, yet did not stop. I parked my car, grabbed my camera, and approached.

A Cooper’s hawk had a starling pinned to the ground and was ripping out its breast feathers. I have occasionally photographed city dwelling hawks — it is surprising how many there are — but I have never been fortunate to get this close.

The hawk must have been hungry as it was so preoccupied with the struggling starling that I was able to get within 15 feet or so. I moved a little too close and it took flight, starling firmly gripped in its talons, and settled in another set of bushes.

I pursued.

The starling made one last gallant attempt to escape but the hawk’s grip was too strong.

Predator and prey, life and death, nature unfolded before my eyes.

Cooper’s hawks, with their shorter rounded wings and longer tail, are nimble, fast fliers that prey on smaller birds.

According to Peggy Horner with the Missouri Department of Conservation, the ones that live in urban settings are often found in the vicinity of bird feeders.

“They like songbirds,” she said.

Again I moved too close. The hawk tensed, grabbed the lifeless starling then fled skyward and out of sight.

Amazing to be so close to nature, if even for just a short time, within the city limits.